June 5, 2008

Here's the new lens. (It was the right answer to the question "Notice anything?" — a post that got a lot of comments. It seems you like these puzzle photo posts.)

So I was testing out the lens today. First, as I was sitting in my favorite café, I caught a woman glancing over the top of the NYT to check out the fashion on the street.

Yes, we're wearing leggings in Madison. But the main thing I wanted to test out with the lens was architecture. Like this:

Yes, we're flying the French flag here in Madison. The reason I was concerned about the lens and architecture is that I want to be prepared to take photographs on the Wright & Like tour this Saturday. Check out the houses you can tour. If you come to the right Frank Lloyd Wright house at the right time, I'll be the docent showing off the living/dining area. I won't be combining photography with docenting, but I will on my own go to all the houses and photograph the exteriors (as I did on last year's tour: here). To join the tour:

The Gobbler Restaurant, a not-to-be-missed futurist style building, will be our one day tour headquarters. The site is located south of Interstate Highway 94 (Exit 267) off Hwy 26 and will open at 8 a.m. for ticket and merchandise sales. Same day tickets are $55 (non members) and $50 (members).

James Lileks wrote about The Gobbler here: "This site is an appreciation of a lost slice of American architecture and design - a period when just about everything had run off the rails, and good taste, restraint and classic traditions were utterly abandoned." Ha ha. Please go over there and click through all the pages. It's hilarious. Anyway, there will be bad taste and good on the Wright & Like tour.

Here are some daisies with an adorable tiny bee:

And here's a fly who has no idea he's not as cute as the bee:

And here's a tree that's not cute either. In fact, it seems vaguely obscene:

Just a walk around 2 blocks with a new 24 mm lens in Madison, Wisconsin.

IN THE COMMENTS: I'm told it's not a bee. It's a hoverfly. I apologize to the flies. Apparently, some of them are very cute. And maybe some insults need to be hurled at bees. Zachary Paul Sire says:

Bees are not cute. They are ruthless killing machines. Trust me on this one.

Revenant say:

bees = the devil

Chip Ahoy say:

We're taught those wonderful bees pollinate flowers and that's a good thing. But then once I noticed one particular bee positively rape a flower bud. It didn't wait for the flower to bloom. It forced open the bud and climbed in, buzzed around inside, bzzzzzz bzzzzzz bzzzzz, came out covered in sticky pollen and looking kind of drunk. Bees are naughty.

Here's the link to buy it from Amazon and in the process make a contribution to the Althouse blog (without paying more). Well, I don't think I would have bought that. It seems cool, but it's much more expensive -- like $2000 instead of $300 -- and it's also heavier and bigger. It doesn't even come up on the Amazon page as an alternative to the one I bought. So it's a pretty different thing. Nice though.

We're taught those wonderful bees pollinate flowers and that's a good thing. But then once I noticed one particular bee positively rape a flower bud. It didn't wait for the flower to bloom. It forced open the bud and climbed in, buzzed around inside, bzzzzzz bzzzzzz bzzzzz, came out covered in sticky pollen and looking kind of drunk. Bees are naughty.

The Gobbler Motel was torn down several years ago. The Gobbler restaurant is still there but has been closed for a while now. However, it is for sale and appears to be in pretty decent shape in case anyone is interested in re-opening it.

Here's a pretty good site:http://gobblermotel.blogspot.com/2003_10_01_archive.html

try and keep the sensor plane perpendicular to the ground. Wide angles will make your walls look crooked if you don't - as in that post in the first picture (or try fixing in post if you can't get the shot - that works too but is harder)

Seven.. I used to work in a museum. The word "docent" is very common in those circles.

Ann... personally, I don't think a 24mm is nearly wide enough (on the non-full-frame digitals) to be very useful in architecture. I use the Nikon 12-24mm zoom. It's 900 bucks but it does everything I want it to. In the old days I used the PC (perspective correcting) lenses but in the digital era it's not necessary. You just about have to use a tripod with those lenses (even outdoors in broad daylight) and that's a pain... and now you can fix the perspective in Photoshop so I don't bother with them any more.

Seven: "As a wordie, Althouse, I think you ought to lead the charge toward simplicity."

It's a title. Pretty standard in museums. I think it should be understood.

clint said..."Love the new lens. The "adorable tiny bee" is actually a kind of hoverfly called a Flower Fly."

Thanks for the info... and your picture is cool.

Citizen Grim said..."Crooked walls are a matter of aesthetics."

I go by what I see in the viewfinder and then on my computer screen. I either like it or I don't. I try many angles and choose what I like.

BowlsRus said..."I pet bumble bees"

Ha ha. I was just listening to an episode of the Ricky Gervais podcast where Karl Pilkington is talking about his mother petting a bee. You should find that!

Rick Lee said..."personally, I don't think a 24mm is nearly wide enough (on the non-full-frame digitals) to be very useful in architecture. I use the Nikon 12-24mm zoom. It's 900 bucks but it does everything I want it to."

I'm sure you're right. What do you think of the software for use with the fisheye?

I agree with the commenter who said that the PC lenses are unnecessary in the digital age.

As for the 12-24. That is a pretty stiff tariff. I don't know what body Ann is using, but the money would be better spent on an upgrade to a body with a bigger sensor, which will automatically make the lens wider angled.

As a clarification, the parenthetical remark above was intended as a reaction to rather than an explanation of the preceeding statement. That is, I meant how uncool that I don't hang out at cafés, not how uncool is it to hang out at cafes. Anyway...it's late. 'Night.

As for the 12-24. That is a pretty stiff tariff. I don't know what body Ann is using, but the money would be better spent on an upgrade to a body with a bigger sensor, which will automatically make the lens wider angled.

I noticed Ann didn't have a Blogad of either premium or regular variety for a couple of weeks.

As for the 12-24. That is a pretty stiff tariff. I don't know what body Ann is using, but the money would be better spent on an upgrade to a body with a bigger sensor, which will automatically make the lens wider angled.Now it's getting complicated. You can't use that 24mm with a full-frame sensor. It's designed for use on the smaller sensor only.

I don't necessarily think that Ann needs the 12-24mm, but SOMETHING wider than a 24. Perhaps a 17 or 18mm... a 24mm is only equal to a 36mm on full frame. That's just not very wide for architecture. All of these shots were done somewhere between 12mm and 18mm.

Ann... I don't have anything to say about the software for making the fisheye rectilinear. I don't have any experience with such things.

Lovely new lens! I am in Paris and was actually surprised to see that the legging thing is still going strong here. A more worrisome observation is what appears to be the resurgence of hammer pants. I assumed the first pair I saw was an aberration, but there have been at least dozen subsequent sightings...you've been warned.

I enjoy your photography, but seeing your interest in pictures, I have to say the following:

Of all the blogs I read, and I read quite a few, yours is my favorite. It usually is entertaining, upbeat, sensible, and shows someone of intelligence behind it. Please don't find this insulting, but until now, the only things that turned me off from your blog were your photos of yourself. Finally, you have a photo that shows a happy, nice, intelligent, normal-looking person. Your current photo goes with your very enjoyable blog. Please keep it that way. Thanks.

I can't go into Ancora -- the vibe is just so corporately different from the former Eureka Joe's that it's too jarring. Even after -- what -- 5, 6, 7, years? Barriques is very soothing. And they sell great gin.